Chapter 251: Outrageous

Chapter 251: Utterly Heinous

Chun Hua was the most beautiful maid in Lanxi Courtyard.

According to the arrangement by the Yongning Marquis Madam, she was meant to serve as the young lady's surrogate to retain favor when the latter became pregnant.

Upon learning of the Yongning Marquis Madam's intentions, the young lady coldly forced Chun Hua to drink a draught of potent poison.

The poison was extremely harsh and damaging to the body.

Not only did it strip Chun Hua of the ability to bear children, but it also ravaged her health and lifespan.

Spring had nearly ended.

Yet, Chun Hua's hands remained as cold as winter ice.

Qiu Shi and Chun Hua shared a room.

Chun Hua knew Qiu Shi writhed silently every night, curled up in pain.

Qiu Shi knew Chun Hua shivered uncontrollably from the cold and that she bled intermittently from her lower body.

Both suffered endlessly.

But Chun Hua's condition could still be treated.

Unlike her own—with one silver needle after another lodged permanently in her body.

Qiu Shi shot a venomous glare toward the tightly shut room.

Nanny Wang seemed to sense it, shooting a glance from a distance.

Qiu Shi...

Qiu Shi was wasting away.

Like a withered leaf clinging to a branch in late autumn, a gust of wind would send it falling—and Qiu Shi's life would reach its end.

The harsh crackling sounds from the room snapped Nanny Wang out of her thoughts.

She had never seen anyone as young as the young lady yet so vicious it was utterly monstrous.

“How many more things are you still hiding from me?” The Yongning Marquis Madam's voice seethed with fury.

Lu Minghui snapped defiantly, “Mother, you don’t believe your own daughter but trust an outsider?”

Weary with disappointment, the Yongning Marquis Madam sighed, “Tell me, what other outrageous things have you done?”

“Only then can I mop up your mess.”

“You know very well that Gu Huai has no interest in you and refuses to marry you. If another disgraceful scandal erupts, the Duke's household would rather risk beseeching the Emperor than proceed with this marriage.”

“At that point, even His Majesty couldn’t force Gu Huai to marry you.”

Lu Minghui sneered, “Even the worst scandal couldn’t compare to Princess Qingyu’s.”

Everyone knew Princess Qingyu had her first sexual encounter with her maternal cousin at thirteen.

By fifteen, after her coming-of-age ceremony, she left the palace to open her own estate and took a succession of male lovers.

Day and night, they wallowed in debauchery, lost in endless revelry.

Her private life rivaled the debauchery of brothel courtesans.

"Lu Minghui!" the Marchioness of Yongning snapped, "She is a royal princess—her father is the Emperor himself!"

"Are you?"

"Is yours?"

"What nonsense!"

The Marchioness wheezed with rage, chest heaving.

At this moment, she even felt a pang of sympathy for Gu Huai.

With a wife like this, no wonder the Duke's house is crumbling.

"Out with it. What else are you hiding?"

Lu Minghui shrank back, retreating half a step, muttering evasively, "N-nothing else."

"Only Xie Yan and Lu Chunhe, father and son."

"The truth!" the Marchioness seethed through clenched teeth. "Lu Minghui, secrets have wings. You can control your own mouth, but can you silence others?"

"The quick can't stay quiet."

"If we cannot protect you, don't blame your mother and the Marquis for being ruthless."

Lu Minghui stammered, "Th-there's also... a painter."

The Marchioness barked a bitter laugh.

Indeed, Lu Minghui never failed to sink lower.

"What painter?"

Lu Minghui shook her head. "I don't know his name."

"Did anything happen between you?"

"We kept to proper bounds—nothing improper occurred. Only a painting was made."

"He said painting was as pure as driven snow."

The Marchioness saw red: !!!

"What kind of painting?"

Lu Minghui's eyes flickered, and she pressed her lips together. *In nothing but sheer gauze.*

Rage burned through her, and she coughed up blood.

What kind of painting required being bare beneath transparent gauze!

A pornographic painting!

*Pornographic painting!* invaded the Marchioness's mind.

And you call this "beginning in passion but restrained by propriety"?

Even Confucius would roll over in his grave!

"Have you no shame?"

"What depraved and filthy things did your adoptive parents, the Lus, teach you?"

"You—"

"Where was the painter from? What style or tell-tale details marked his artwork? What did he promise you?"

Lu Minghui looked bewildered, unable to answer any of the questions.

"He... he paid me ten taels (about 400g) of silver."

"Mother, the painting didn’t show any facial features. No one could tell it was me."

The Marquise of Yongning stared at Lu Minghui and let out a hollow laugh.

How pitiful.

Truly, how pitiful.

Ten taels of silver—that was all it took for Minghui to strip to sheer gauze for the painting.

"Do you still remember what the painter looked like?"

Lu Minghui nodded. "I remember."

"Can you draw his portrait?"

"My drawing skills are passable."

"Never mind. I’ll bring in a trusted female artist to the estate. You describe, and she will draw."

"And what about Lu Chunhe and his son?"

"Spare me your innocence."

Lu Minghui’s voice was barely a whisper. "A cheap silver-plated pin."

"In the fields... he took it."

"Mother, I wasn’t deflowered. Truly, I remained a virgin."

The Marquise of Yongning sneered. "Oh? Did you suddenly find your shame and resist, or did Lu Chunhe and his son show mercy?"

Lu Minghui dared not conceal anything further. "Lu Sanjin interrupted them."

"Lu Sanjin?" The Marquise of Yongning frowned. "Didn’t you say he fell into the water and was left feeble-minded, with the intellect of a child?"

"Wait—his drowning fever wasn’t accidental. It was you?"

At the time, Minghui still didn’t know her true parentage.

A cold dread crept up from the Marquise of Yongning’s feet, spreading slowly through her entire body.

So young—and already harming her own.

No wonder she didn’t even blink when scheming against Ming Hua.

How could her daughter be such a rotten apple?

“Minghui, from today onward, you shall set up a small prayer room in Lanxi Courtyard to transcribe sutras and cultivate your mind.”

She truly feared that one day Lu Minghui would drag Yongning Marquis’s household into irreparable ruin.

She didn’t expect Lu Minghui to achieve great success—only that she would stay out of trouble.

Lu Minghui retorted, “Mother, I still need to prepare for my wedding.”

“You need not worry about the wedding preparations,” Mother said exhaustedly.

“Tomorrow, I will have the elderly maid from your grandmother’s side come to inspect you.”

Lu Minghui looked up. “What do you mean, Mother?”

Mother replied, “Exactly what you think.”

“Mother, I haven’t been unchaste!”

“Whether you have or not, the inspection will tell.”

Mother couldn’t bring herself to trust Lu Minghui, who was full of lies.

Seeing is believing.

“By the way, why did you request to see Princess Qingyu earlier this year?”

“And why did Princess Qingyu gift you jewelry?”

Mother suddenly recalled this past incident.

Before, she hadn’t thought much of it, but now she dared not dismiss it.

Lu Minghui lowered her head. “I procured a lover for the princess.”

Mother felt dizzy with shock—this wasn’t a daughter, but a curse upon her.

If these matters were to spread, even her position as the marquis’s matriarch wouldn’t be safe.

A child’s faults were her faults.

Was Lu Minghui trying to be the death of her?

“Lu Minghui, are you insane?”

“Which gentleman who offended you did you procure for Princess Qingyu?”

Lu Minghui answered, “Lu Yao.”

“The second son of the Lu family.”

“Mother, I considered it carefully. Let me explain.”

Mother fixed her with a stare. “Do you have any sense of right and wrong? Any family loyalty?”

Mingchao oversees Lanxi Courtyard.